Winter Light
There is another issue that I think needs to be kept in mind and allowances made. This issue is mental health. Pushing ourselves in certain ways, may not be in our best interest. There are many theories and best practice guidelines out there and it is difficult to know what is best for each individual. Here is one that I think works.
…
I think we have all heard of “burn outâ€. You don’t want this to happen for those things that you enjoy.
–Bob Wong
In yesterday’s post, The work of it, Bob Wong came up with a very interesting comment. An excerpt is above. You can see the entire comment here. I’d like to state the Bob is a much welcomed contributor here and has provided me with several ideas of posts. I like when he visits. 
His post made me wonder if indeed we can get burned-out doing what we love, our passion. So, I did what I usually do and went to the dictionary for a consultation to make sure that I really understood what burnout meant and here’s what the dictionary had to say:
Physical or emotional exhaustion, especially as a result of long-term stress or dissipation.
Mozart, who many deemed as a musical genius, was, in fact a seriously dedicated student and practitioner of music. It was said that, by the age of 28, his hands were deformed for all of the practice that he had done over the years. I think, too, of Michael Jordon and his legendary practice routines and love some of his quotes, especially this one:
I can never stop working hard. Each day I feel that I have to improve. Hard work…Determination…I gotta keep pushing myself.
–Michael Jordan
Here, I don’t think that Michael Jordan was talking about pushing himself to do something that he didn’t love. He just kept expecting better things from himself and kept delivering. He wasn’t naturally gifted, but he just outworked any and every person around. As far as we know, he never burned-out on basketball
On a personal note: I’ve been a software developer since 1982. I’ve probably produced several hundred thousands of lines of code, perhaps over a million. I have no idea. Although I do it day in, day out, each and every day, I’ve not become burned-out of software development. I have become burned-out at a particular job because the expectations were much too high, unrealistic is more the word, but the love for development, no matter how much I learn, has never left me in 27 years. It’s the same with photography. I practice several times a week and always want to know more. I don’t always do the work because I “let” life get in the way, sometimes. Yet, every time that I recover, I’m glad to have that camera in my hand.
Frequently, I’m disappointed … sometimes, severely, but I never feel burned-out. I may be overwhelmed by other aspects of my life, as I have been lately, but the passion has never died in all of these years.
I think that burn-out, so to speak, is the culmination of the mental stress that you put upon yourself to achieve something great and not having it happen. It’s not doing it for the love, but for the outcome. If you get no outcome, or perhaps no accolades, the stress builds and you try harder to prove that you are worthy. You’re not doing it for the love.
With these thoughts in mind, I really don’t think that burn-out is really possible. Any other takes on this? Have I missed something?
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7 Responses to “Is burn-out possible?”
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Paul, I understand you’re mainly talking about photography but I’m going to widen the subject a bit.
Perhaps you’re “burnout” proof.
I use to think I was also after 20+ years of developing, coding, and managing an I.T. environment–things I loved (and still do). However, when I was a few years older then you are currently I discovered I wasn’t burnout proof at all. My “burnout” sapped my productivity and energy, leaving me feeling exhausted, cynical and resentful. Depression is perhaps not too strong of a word–much deeper then being simply bored, overloaded or unappreciated–those went with the job.
My personal “burnout” went from small traces of smoke to a raging inferno over a long period of months and years (I’m now able to recognize this looking back).
I was lucky to be able to make the major changes to my life I needed to deal with this without enduring financial hardships, but it hasn’t been easy “cleaning up after the fire.” It’s even a little difficult sharing this now.
This personal experience with a career I loved has influenced the way I approach photography. I take nothing for granted. Words and mental images are powerful and I try to think and speak of photography in the positive terms I feel–fun, play, creativity and learning.
I play hard (at photography) when I feel like it but I also rest when I need it.
Sometimes “the resistance” is no more then bad habits/human nature and other times it’s trying to tell you something important. IMO the trick is knowing when/how to listen and more important how to respond.
@Earl: I don’t think that I’m burn-out proof, at all. As I mentioned to you before, I believe, at one point I quit, took 6 months off, and then went back. I was seriously burned-out of the job and all of the crap surrounding the ‘craft’. For 6 months, I stepped away from I.T. completely. There were times when I thought of never returning. Ever!
There are still times when I think of leaving it, but with one in college and one on the way to college, it just doesn’t seem possible. Yet. Sacrifices.
Further, now I no longer have a passion for development. I like it, but am not passionate about it. It pays well, but it doesn’t light my fire anymore. I kind of figure, what’s the point?
Resistance can become a habit, but so can discipline. I’m speaking, here, only of improving one’s craft, whatever that may be. Often times, its what’s around periphery that causes the burn-out, not the practicing of the craft itself.
That said, I agree with you 110% about burn-out, anger, rage, etc.
I would like to comment on 2 general themes that you said.
“Frequently I feel disappointed”.
I truly understand this state of mind, but I do work hard to overcome this negativity that I place on myself.
First I try and find some element or technique that works within an image. The whole may not be great but I am sure for most of us there are some parts that are wonderful. Remember what works well and use again.
On some images I got the F/shutter/focus wrong. Ok I make mistakes and I forget to check. Move on.
On some series I try, it doesn’t seem to work out. I try and figure out why it not working.
On many such series that were less that stellar I try and sketch (paper or mentally) what would be the perfect combination of items, light etc to make it work. This is learning and more fun.
On the Burn-out or exhaustion I tend to find that if I still have a passion then most likely the current set I am working on is either boring or I had done too many and it’s not challenging enough.
I started a 123 word-a-day blog. It lasted a month was fun and hard but I realized it was not for me. Too much structure to post every day but I did learn something about myself. Words don’t come easy.
If there is a passion still inside then I think all you need to to find a new path and explore that.
You have had some great images that I truly enjoy viewing. Still hope to see many more.
Niels Henriksen
Elucidating comments all.
I think Earl nailed one aspect of burn out “I play hard (at photography) when I feel like it but I also rest when I need it.”
I suspect that there are two types of causes that lead to burn out. Most activities (Photography included) have fun parts that tickle the passion and not so fun parts that can add up to burn out.
But there is also the case of too much fun illustrated by this example. I love Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream from Baskin Robbins and there is nothing about eating it that isn’t fun. But there is a limit to how much I can consume before I want something else. After a break it’s back to Jamoca Almond Fudge.
Some wonderful food for thought. (Add the Jamoca Almond Fudge and I’m all set.) It’s helpful to hear others talk about these issues from their personal experiences. I’m taking away a nice list of reminders that will earn a spot in my survival kit.
Niels’ thoughts on finding what does work, even in a dispappointing photo, is one of my often used techniques. That helps to keep me from being overwhelmed by the many let-downs. As Niels makes clear, it isn’t a matter of rationalizing away the flaws and mistakes. It’s a matter of making a flawed attempt part of a learning experience and a turning it into a long-term win.
From my experience, one thing that seems to add tremendously to the risk of burn-outs is if your works starts becoming to fragmented. Even if you love the core of your work, as soon as too many side-tracks open and responsibilities “on the side” are dropped on you, stress, discontentment and a general treadmill feeling seem to acumulate pretty quickly.
E.g., it’s great if you are a developer by heart and enjoy coding – but if you suddenly have to also cope with leading a team, managing time-sheets, taking care of recruitment and aquisition, wasting time in endless, senseless meetings, digging through heaps of equally “important” emails, and so on and so forth… And at the end of the day you go through your own mental time sheet and have the feeling that you actually did not accomplish anything that is dear to you. But still feel pretty worn out. Argh.
Happens to me more often than I like, but sofar I could at least steer clear of any major cliff.
@Thomas: You bring up a very interesting point about developing and the “side-tracks”. I’m in the throes of that right now. I was nominated, voted, and elected team lead all without even raising my hand. I rather like being an individual contributor. I’ve had my fill of the lead role. Anyway, you described, perfectly, my day in general. I get very little time in the way of coding. Now it’s answering e-mails about this and that and managing the project. Yes, that type of thing can lead to burn-out.